


Accidentally In Love

by Pameluke



Series: Chicago Nights [3]
Category: Spartacus Series (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Characters Deserve Happy Endings Too, Bartenders, Chicago (City), Chicago Blackhawks, F/M, Fluff, Hockey, M/M, Self-Indulgent, Sorry Not Sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-01
Updated: 2013-06-01
Packaged: 2017-12-13 14:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/825346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pameluke/pseuds/Pameluke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a hard-knock life, working two jobs to pay off her mothers medical bills, but Marcia tries to enjoy it when and where she can. Luckily she has great friends, an awesome place to work at Ray's, and great sport teams to root for. The falling in love happens entirely by accident.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Accidentally In Love

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Shannon for reading it over, and for all the support since I first headcanoned about Marcia and Lugo. I really couldn't have done this without you.

“Incoming, ten o’clock,” Castus warns her in passing. Marcia is trying to keep up with washing the glasses, but she glances up to the door anyway, because Castus has great taste in men. And he’s right this time again, because the man looking around for a table to sit at is gloriously hot. He’s not that tall, but he pulls off his long hair, and his face is so very pretty.

“Dibs,” she tells Castus the next time he passes her, “and make sure to tell Chadara I called it.” 

“Will do, but after hours okay? You know the rules.” Castus waves his finger at her.

“I’m the one who made the rules, and you’re the one who always has trouble keeping to them.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. He’s hot, so finish your shift and go get him.”

 

She can see Castus telling Chadara she called dibs when she returns from clearing the tables, and when she sticks her tongue out at her, Marcia smirks. She deserves a little bit of fun after having the cleaning shift 3 days in a row. And the hot guy looks like a lot of fun.

 

An hour later, the crowd has thinned down a lot, her shift has ended, and the hot guy is still sitting at the table, nursing his drink. She decides to bring him another beer and see if he’s up for some company.

 

“This one’s on me,” she tells him as she puts a beer next to his empty glass. “You look like you could use some distraction.”

“True; although your company would probably serve as a better one,” he says with a dirty wink. Yup, she’s going to like this one.

 

***

 

She floats through her shift at the supermarket the next day. She’s tired and a bit sore, but in the satisfying way that stems from a great time, and not even Mrs. Bowman complaining about the vegetable assortment again can ruin her mood. By the time she arrives at Ray’s her feet hurt like crazy, but she’s still smiling. She hasn’t even ditched her coat yet when both Castus and Chadara jump her.

 

“So, how did it go? What was his name?” Chadara asks, but before she can answer that with more than a smile, Castus interrupts.

“More importantly, how well were those pants packed? And did he know how to treat a lady?”

“Guys, his name is Gannicus, and I don’t kiss and tell.” Chadara looks disappointed and Castus looks so horrified that she can’t keep a straight face for long.

“Oh my god, best lay ever, seriously,” she says. She can’t help giggling while they share a round of high fives.

 

“So, are you seeing him again?” Chadara asks.

“I wouldn’t mind a second round, but we agreed we were only going to have some fun. I did tell him he’s always welcome at Ray’s again, so I guess we’ll see.”

 

She’s pretty sure Gannicus will come around again, but even if he doesn’t, she still had a great night, and she feels like her batteries are recharged again. She should call dibs more often.

 

***

 

Gannicus does return, and they hook up a couple more times. It’s all casual and in good fun, but she likes that. She’s not looking for anything serious, not after Marc and Glenn, and she likes that Gannicus is up front with his intentions. She’s not so sure she likes that he apparently really loves Ray’s, and has decided to introduce all his friends to his newfound hide-out. Some nights it feels like they’re being invaded. For the most part, Gannicus’ friends are all nice people though, and they tip well, so Marcia doesn’t mind that much.

 

The first time Nasir comes over, Castus calls dibs so loud, a couple of customers seated at the bar frown and look around to see who he’s talking about. Marcia can’t stop laughing about it, especially when it turns out Nasir has a really attractive boyfriend, who keeps giving Castus the evil eye.

 

“Remember the rules honey, no flirting during work hours, and not messing with people who are in a relationship,” she reminds him. Castus pouts at her. “I hate those rules.”

 

Gannicus’ friends keep coming to Ray’s even after they stop hooking up, which makes her feel awkward for a while, so she tries to keep her distance. Until one day Sura confronts her about it.  “Marcia, if we couldn’t go to places where Gannicus has ex-girlfriends, we would probably have to move to another city.”

“I was never his girlfriend,” Marcia hurries to reply.

“See! Nothing to feel weird about then. I like the athmosphere, Naevia and Crixus love the pooltable, Nasir likes the band showcases and the people, and Agron loves Nasir. The rest is just here for the beer.  The only thing you should worry about is Donar and Lugo drinking you out of German beer really.”

 

Marcia can’t help but laugh when Duro swirls around panicking. “Did we run out of beer?” he asks in horror, and Lugo stops talking as well, to give her a pleading look.

 

“Nope, we didn’t. Ray put in an extra order since you guys started coming over.”

 

They both look so relieved, Sura and Marcia crack up, and she’s still smiling 2 hours later, when her shift has finally ended. Sura is right; Gannicus’ friends are nice, and she stops feeling weird about it.

 

The gang keeps coming all fall. Not always all together, sometimes Nasir will babysit the twins so Naevia and Crixus can have a night off, sometimes Donar will bring around a date, and one time Sura has a bachelorette party with one of her college-friends. But Friday evenings mostly end up with the whole gang hanging out, and mostly being loud.

 

 

In December Agron finally gets tired of Castus’ relentless flirting, and they end up having a huge argument at the bar. She’s worried it might come to blows, but Duro and Donar intervene and pull Agron outside. Nasir looks furious, and she later learns from Duro - he’s the world’s worst gossip, honestly - that Nasir and Agron had a huge fight about it because Nasir can look after himself, and Agron should trust him. Neither shows up at Ray’s for two weeks, until Agron walks in to make the most awkward apology to Castus ever. Since Castus can be a bit of an ass, he mostly keeps smirking at Agron. The smirk stays firmly on his face until the day after, when Nasir walks in.

 

“Hello beautiful, what can I get you today?” Castus is laying it on thick as always, and Marcia wishes she had popcorn, because she’s pretty sure Nasir is about to crush Castus’ dreams forever.

 

“Look, I really like this place, and when you’re not going overboard with the flirting, I like you a lot. But I thought I made myself clear that I’m not interested. Since that apparently didn’t work out, I’m telling you again. I love my boyfriend. He can be an ass, but that ass is mine, and I don’t want to switch asses.”

“Are you sure? Because, not to toot my own horn, my ass is pretty delicious.” Castus smirks, and Marcia wishes she could empty a bucket over his head to make him cool off.

“That came out wrong. What I meant to say is, stop flirting with me, stop making moves, I’m really, really not interested. It’s just not going to happen. I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted. And ok, I’ll tone down the flirting. You’re still up to play with your band next month right?”

“If you’re not making it impossible for me to be here, I’m still up for that yes, of course. Do we have a deal?”

“No more flirting, you keep bringing your pretty face, we’ve got ourselves a deal.”

“You’re failing already.”

“I’ll need to practice.”

Nasir points his finger at Castus and glares a bit. 

“You do that.” He waves at Marcia on his way out. “See you Friday, Marcia!”

 

Marcia takes one look at Castus’ face and decides hot chocolate is definitely in order. He accepts the drink without a word, and gloomily watches the whipped cream melt while he stirs.

“I’m not giving up”, he grouches eventually.

“Castus, honey. He’s just not into you. He has a boyfriend, and he clearly said he’s not interested. I know it’s hard, but if you go after him after this, you’re not being cute, you’re just being creepy.” Marcia pats him on the shoulder a bit, while Castus sighs.

“I know, but he’s so hot, and so fucking interesting.”

“You can still admire the view and have interesting conversations when you’re just friends you know,” she says.

“I guess so, but ugh. This sucks,” he says, still pouting into his drink.

“Yes, it does. But to cheer you up, I’ll give you my next dibs,” she says with a wink.

“You’d give that up for me? Really?”, Castus says sounding disbelieving.

“I’d do that for you. For one time only, you’ve got the right to steal my dibs.”

“You’re the best Marcia, thanks.” Castus gives her a hug, ruffles her hair, and finally smiles again.

 

 

***

 

Marcia is not having a good day, and the guy at the bar who keeps bothering her is not helping at all. Chadara called in sick, so she’s manning the bar on her own this evening and has no one to vent to. And since the sleazebag is seated at the bar, she just can’t escape him.

“Let me buy you a drink, sweetheart,” he says for the third time, while putting his hand on her wrist. She wants to smash his beer in his face.

“No thank you, can’t drink while I’m at work,” she replies for the third time, and pulls her arm free. 

“Your boss isn’t here though, so come on, keep a guy company,” he says and reaches for her hand again. She sees Lugo standing at the other side of the bar, and she’s grateful for the opportunity to escape.

“Sorry, I’ve got a customer,” she says.

 

“Hey Marcia, is that guy bothering you?”, Lugo asks, pointing his chin at the sleazebag. “Do you want me to scare him off?”

“No, it’s fine, I can handle him myself, but thanks for offering. What can I get you?”, she asks. She and Lugo are friendly, but they don’t know each other that well, and besides she’s been working behind the bar for years; she can handle unwanted attentions.

“A Spaten is fine,” Lugo says, and when she gives him that, he stays where he is, watching the Hawks game that is playing muted in the corner, instead of going to the booth where his co-workers are sitting. She’s grateful for the company.

“So, you a hockey fan? You’re rooting for the Blackhawks right? Otherwise we might need to throw you out of Chicago,” she says.

Lugo laughs a little, “Don’t worry, I like the Hawks. They’ve had a pretty good start to the season.”

“I know right! I was so glad the lockout was over, but to have them start like this, it’s just amazing,” she says.

 

The rest of the evening she spends with Lugo, commenting on the game between serving customers. The sleazebag tries to start up a conversation a couple of times, but each time, Lugo orders a drink or something to snack on, and distracts her with his loud cheering and booing of the Sharks. By the time the Hawks win and they high-five in celebration, he has left.

 

They’re watching the post-game interview with Toews, and as always she’s a little bit surprised how attractive she finds him. “He’s so hot,” she says without thinking. Lugo just laughs and winks at her. “I mean, I love hockey, and he’s an awesome player and captain, but the hotness definitely is a perk,” she says, because when you’ve forgotten you’re not talking to your girlfriends, you might as well go all in.

“True, you’re very lucky,” Lugo says. “When I was in high-school, I thought, everyone likes a hockey-player, right? Girls will find me attractive if I can skate well. So I tried to, but it was so fucking cold, and I was really bad at it.”

“How bad?” she asks, while trying not to laugh at the image of a teenage Lugo in hockey gear. It just doesn’t fit.

“I spent most of the time on my ass, and when I finally managed to stay upright, I couldn’t stop, and skated right into the glass.”

Marcia laughs. “So your plan failed then?” she asks.

“Yes, I didn’t become a hockey champion, and no girlfriends for Lugo,” he sighs dramatically.

“Poor you,” Marcia says, and pats him mockingly on the shoulder.

 

Luckily Ray’s clears out quickly that evening, and Lugo sticks around while she finishes clean-up. She’s all wrapped up and ready to face the wind and go home, and finally fall into her bed, so she turns to Lugo to say goodbye after locking up. “Thanks for tonight, Lugo. I had fun, and I would have had a really shitty evening without you here.”

“No problem. I had fun too. You still look like you need a hug though. Do you want a hug?” he asks.

And Marcia is still dead tired, and after today everything hurts, so a hug sounds like the nicest thing ever right now. So she nods, and before she realizes it, she kind of falls into him. He’s broad and strong, and his arms wrap entirely around her back. He squeezes just right, a little on the strong side, so she really feels it in her muscles. It’s perfect. It’s the best hug she’s ever had.

They stay like that for a little while, until he slowly lets go.

“Thanks,” she says, and her voice sounds a little wobbly.

“Anytime, Marcia. I always have a hug for you if you want one,” he says. “See you Friday!”

“See you Friday,” she says, and walks home, her heart a little lighter.

 


End file.
